


The Spider's Spawn

by TheWolvesAreHowling



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: :(, A line break mostly likely means a switch in POV, Aunt May is dead, Cause of course we have to have that, Clintasha has a son, Field Trip Disaster, Gen, He’s Russian, I don't think this follows any plot line at all, I think I forgot some characters maybe, Like, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Out of Character, POV Multiple, Peter lives in the Tower, Pietro Maximoff for sure, Red Room (Marvel), Talking To Dead People, all of them - Freeform, and Natasha - Freeform, and lives in the tower, definitely
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2019-09-22 04:31:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17053193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWolvesAreHowling/pseuds/TheWolvesAreHowling
Summary: When Natasha digs around in the Academy she was raised and trained at, she discovers her son is being trained in the same Academy. She goes to Russia to rescue him, and brings a broken little boy back to the States.





	1. A New Spider

**February 6th, 2018. Belarus, Russia**

Natasha Romanov crept along the dark street silently. She came upon the buildings she was looking for and quickly subdued the two patrolling guards at the West Entrance. She looked up at the tall iron fence, and gripped the freezing bars to begin climbing. From her knowledge, she knew there were no other guards patrolling on the inside of the fence on the grounds, but guards inside the buildings. She climbed swiftly, dropping on the ground with barely a sound. Hidden in the shadows, she looked at the two buildings, unwillingly remembering them all too well.

The Academies. The Red Room Academy, where she was raised and trained, and its brother Academy, the Yellow Room Academy. While the Red Room only trained young girls, the Yellow Room trained young boys. It was the Yellow Room the Black Widow would be visiting tonight. She moved quietly in the shadows until she was at an entrance to the Yellow Room. There was a single guard at the door, but he was easy to subdue and slip past. She had never been in the Yellow Room before, but creeping down the halls quickly revealed it had the same layout as the Red Room. Any guards she came across were subdued and dragged out of sight as she made her way to the dormitories. They were arranged by age groups, with the youngest in the first rooms of the hall and the oldest in the last rooms, at the end of the hallway.

Natasha quickly picked the lock of the first door on her right, the door she knew held the youngest trainees, all six years old. She moved past rows of beds, noting the faces of each young boy, until she came upon the very last bed. It held a boy, significantly smaller than all the other boys, with dark red hair framing a tan face, which was marred by a large burn scar. She made quick work of the handcuffs at the head of the bed, and looked down at the boy, who had woken. His startling blue eyes were staring at her, until he jumped up and put his fists up, in a fighting stance. When he spoke, his voice was soft, but his words held venom, “Who are you and what are you doing here?” Natasha held her hands out, making sure the boy knew she wasn’t going to attack, and answered, “I’m here for you.” The boy narrowed his eyes. “Why? Who are you?” Natasha smiled sadly at the boy. “I’m your mother.” The boy clenched his jaw and whispered furiously at Natasha. “My mother is dead.” “I swear to you, I am your mother. I would never lie to you.” The boy stared at Natasha, and his voice held a faint tremble when he spoke, “If you are my mother, say my name.”

Natasha knew it was a test. At the Academies, you were forced to forget everything about your life, including your family and name. At graduation, they would give you a new name, but until then you were just a number. “Nikolai Igor Romanov.” The boy let the unshed tears in his eyes spill as he dropped his fists and flung himself at Natasha, who hugged him close. “Mama! I missed you so much.” Natasha hugged him tighter, but snapped her head towards the door when she heard shouting. Through the comm in her ear, she heard Clint speak. “Might want to hurry it up in there, Nat, they know something’s wrong.” As she spoke, she picked Adrik up and left the room, slipping in the shadows. “Yeah Clint, I got that.”

It was harder to escape undetected, now that the guards were on high alert, but they managed. By the time a guard saw her, she was already running down the street and ducking through alleys to get to the exfil point. Clint was already there, waiting with the airplane idling. Minutes later, the plane was in the air on the way back to New York.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m changing around the time line a bit, cause I know I’m 2012 (when Nikolai would’ve been born) the Avengers was going on. It’s not a major change, at the moment, but just letting y’all know


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it’s short, but I wanted to get a new chapter posted for you guys. I’m going to start working on the next chapter, which hopefully won’t take forever

Now that he was away from the Yellow Room, Nikolai had become more like a scared little boy. He had taken a while to settle into a light sleep, wary of Clint, but Natasha had told him he was safe with Clint. She would tell him everything later, when he wasn’t struggling to stay awake. Natasha was content to let him sleep in her lap, chatting quietly with Clint as the plane flew back home. When the plane landed, Natasha carried Nikolai from the plane to the waiting car, where Happy drove them back to the Tower. The two Avengers used the private elevator up to the penthouse, and Natasha surveyed the living room as the doors opened, where the rest of the team were lounging in their pajamas, some blinking sleep out of their eyes. It was obvious they all wanted to wait for Natasha and Clint to return, and therefore waited for them in the living room instead of going to their separate bedrooms for the night.  
  
They all perked up when Natasha and Clint stepped out of the elevator, and their chatter roused Nikolai, who looked around at everyone sleepily. His grip on Natasha’s neck tightened as he buried his face in her shoulder, intimidated by the rest of the team. Natasha murmured softly to him in Russian, and he slowly picked his head up enough to look around the room. Everyone watched the boy’s bright green eyes land on each of them, before they were darting around the room rapidly, as if he were following something with his eyes. He spoke softly, glancing at Natasha before returning his eyes to their rapid movements. Natasha frowned, then looked at Wanda. Wanda raised an eyebrow at the other woman, then frowned as Nikolai’s eyes stopped moving rapidly, settling next to her. Nikolai murmured to Natasha again in Russian, and Wanda stepped closer to hear him. “Who is that man, Mama? The one running around?” Wanda, for a second, thought Nikolai was talking about Pietro, but shook it off. Her brother was dead, and now wasn’t the time to reopen that particular wound. 

* * *

Nikolai was a little frightened by so many new people, people who looked kinda scary, despite the fact they were all wearing pajamas. Nikolai observed each of them, before a blur caught his eyes. It was blue, and sometimes it slowed enough to make the shape of a human, before it sped up again. “Mama, what’s that blue blur?” Natasha looked at him, then to the other people. Nikolai wasn’t bothered when she didn’t answer, simply returning his attention to tracking the blur. Then, it stopped, next to a red haired woman. When it stopped, Nikolai was able to see that it was a man with blonde hair. His shirt was bloody, but he didn’t seem to mind as he looked longingly at the woman. “Who is that man, Mama? The one running around?” Natasha didn’t answer, but the man snapped his head from the woman to Nikolai. He ran up to Nikolai, who curled further into his mother’s grasp, and stared. He spoke in Russian softly, “You can see me?” Nikolai nodded slightly, and the man laughed a bit hysterically. Nikolai frowned, and leaned away from the man, who calmed upon seeing this. “I apologize. It has been so long since I’ve talked to someone. I am Pietro.” Nikolai surveyed the man, and spoke softly, “I am Nikolai.” Nikolai wiggled out of his mother’s arms and looked around. He looked at Pietro, who looked back at him. “They look intimidating, but they won’t hurt you, little one.” Nikolai nodded and tugged on Natasha’s hand lightly, heading towards the group. Natasha introduced everyone to Nikolai, and Nikolai was glad to see that Pietro followed along. When Natasha introduced Wanda, Nikolai noticed Pietro’s face tighten, but didn’t say anything, not wanting to drive his new friend away.

Natasha and Clint spent the day with Nikolai, and had explained to him that Clint was his father, and why they had to give him up. “We didn’t want to give you up, little star, but we couldn’t bring you home with us. What we do is dangerous, and we didn’t want to bring you into that life. We didn’t want you to worry about us not coming home.” Nikolai sniffles and peered up at the pair. “Then why bring me home now?” “Because, now we know that spending every moment you have with your family is worth the potential pain. We love you, and we’ve always wanted what’s best for you. Bringing you home, to your family, that’s what best for you.” Clint had barely finished speaking when Nikolai tackled him in a hug, sniffling against his chest.  
  
That night, after Natasha and Clint tucked Nikolai into his new bed, right next to their own bedroom, he called softly for Pietro. The man materialized at the end of the bed, sitting cross legged facing him. “Yes, little one?” Nikolai looked at him, hesitating. Finally, he whispered, “Can I ask you some questions?” When Pietro nodded, Nikolai was relieved he hadn’t been punished for his curiosity. “You said you haven’t talked to anyone in a long time, why?” “I am dead, so nobody can see me. I’ve been around this tower for four years, hoping I could somehow communicate with anyone, but nobody ever noticed me. Until you saw me.” Nikolai frowned, and looked at Pietro’s bloody shirt. Pietro glanced down as well and grimaced softly, but didn’t say anything. “How can I talk to you?” Pietro frowned, “I don’t know, little one. Maybe your parents will have an idea. You can ask them.”   
  
“I don’t know.” Pietro frowned again, and reached out a hand, as if to touch Nikolai. He pulled back and looked at the boy. “Little one, they will not think any differently of you if you tell them. They love you, they would never hurt you just because you ask questions.” Nikolai looked down, but nodded softly. Pietro nodded and whispered as he faded out of sight, “Good night, little one.” 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s the second day of Nikolai living with the Avengers, and something interesting is revealed...

“Mama?” Natasha looked up as Nikolai approached the couch slowly. He looked a little scared, but determined. Natasha closed her book and smiled at Nikolai, patting the seat next to her. Nikolai climbed up and glanced next to him, before he looked at Natasha. “I see someone. Someone nobody else sees.” Natasha frowned. “What do you mean, little star?” Nikolai gulped, looking down, before he focused his eyes on Natasha’s once more.  
  
”His name is Pietro. He says he’s dead, but I can see him. I can talk to him.” Natasha must’ve looked doubtful and/or completely surprised, because Nikolai looked to the empty space on the other side of himself, then back to Natasha. “He says, ‘you didn’t see that coming?’”  
  
Natasha looked away for a moment. “FRIDAY, can you ask Bruce if we can speak to him?” “Dr. Banner has agreed. He is currently in his lab.” Natasha thanked the AI, then stood and held out her hand. Nikolai hesitated for a second, then took it. They headed for the elevator, going to the 85th floor.  
  
Bruce was at a lab table, but he set down a tool and turned to them as they entered. “Hey, what do you guys need?” Natasha looked to Nikolai, then back at Bruce. “He can see Pietro.” Bruce looked at Nikolai, but didn’t question it. He nodded. “Do you have any idea of how it happened?”  
  
Nikolai was silent for a second, before he gestured to the large burn on the side of his face. “I was in an accident when I was four. An explosion in..Moscow, I think.”  
  
Natasha relayed the information to Bruce, who hummed. “Can I take a blood sample?” Nikolai nodded, and sat in a chair while Bruce did that. “FRIDAY, can you find any information on any explosions in Moscow in 2014?”  
  
A second later, a holographic screen appeared at a lab table. Natasha approached it as FRIDAY spoke. “There was an explosion at a lab in Moscow on March 2nd, 2014. There were five casualties and seven fatalities. The five victims were observed to have unusual behavior, and were later determined to have unusual abilities.” “What were the abilities of the victims?” “Shapeshifting, animation, the ability to interact and control animals, power replication, and the ability to speak and understand and language heard. Nikolai was the victim to manifest power replication.”  
  
Natasha looked back at Nikolai, then to the screen. She looked through the information, then thanked the AI and headed back over to Bruce. “It was the explosion that caused it. The other four victims developed abilities while under observation, and it wasn’t until the doctors put Nikolai in the same room as the other victims that his abilities manifested.”  
  
Bruce nodded and put the blood sample under his microscope, examining it. “I don’t see anything unusual with his cells. But I wonder...FRIDAY, please call Peter down here.” “Yes, Dr. Banner.”  
  
A minute later, Peter stepped into the lab, trailed by Harley, MJ, and Ned. “Hey, Dr. Banner. What’s wrong? Oh, I hope it’s okay they came with me.” “Of course, and I’ve told you to call me Bruce.” Peter blushed, but nodded sheepishly. “Right, sorry, I forgot. What’s up?”  
  
Bruce gestured to Nikolai. “Natasha, ask him if he’s alright with people touching him.” Natasha spoke to Nikolai, then nodded. “Alright, Peter hold out your hand to Nikolai.” Peter did so, and Nikolai slowly took it, holding it tightly as Bruce took another blood sample. “Don’t like needles.” Natasha smiled softly and ran her hand through his dark red curls. “I know, little star. You’re doing good.” Bruce examined the new blood sample and spoke. “I see it now. His cells are mutating. Harley, can you take a blood sample for Peter? You can let go of Nikolai’s hand now.”  
  
Peter sat in the chair next to Nikolai as Harley took his blood sample, then handed it to Bruce. “Yep, Nikolai’s cells are mutating to match Peter’s. His replication comes through contact with another person who has powers.” Bruce looked up. “He could be more powerful than all of us. I mean, he’s already got at least five, now six, powers that he’s replicated. And that’s only what we know of.” Natasha pursed her lips. “Is there a way we can figure out what other powers he has?” Bruce looked around, then nodded. “I’m sure I can figure something out. I’m going to get started on that.”  
  
Natasha nodded and ushered everyone out of the lab. “Peter, if he’s now got your powers, we need to start helping him master them.” Peter nodded. “Of course, yeah.“ Natasha nodded. “Thanks, Pete.”  
  
The rest of the day was spent helping Nikolai get more comfortable with the rest of the team. It was clear Nikolai connected with Peter, Harley, and Bucky the most, besides Natasha and Clint. Natasha and Bruce had also informed the rest of the team about Nikolai’s abilities, and told them that eventually, Nikolai would replicate all of their powers and abilities.  
  
That night was movie night. Nikolai sat on one of the many cushions on the floor with Harley, Peter, MJ, and Ned. When he fell asleep halfway through the movie, clutching Peter’s shirt, the teen was happy to put him to bed.

* * *

The next morning, Nikolai chattered with Pietro while he waited for breakfast. Natasha stood at the stove, flipping waffles, and listened in on the seemingly one-sided conversation.  
  
“Really? Do you think he would show up?” “Can you teach me?”  
  
“Mama, Pietro says I can do more than speak to the dead. He says he can teach me how, if you let him. Can he, Mama? Can he teach me more about my power?”  
  
Natasha set a plate of waffles in front of Nikolai, then hummed. “Yes, but only if someone else is there. No offense to Pietro, but I want to make sure you stay safe.” Nikolai looked at the seat where Pietro sat, then nodded to his mother. “Okay. Thank you Mama!”  
  
After breakfast, Natasha, Nikolai, and Pietro headed to the Avengers’ personal gym on the 88th floor. Natasha touched the wall, and the glass blackened, cutting off view from the outside.  
  
“We will start with touching the dead. Right now, you can only speak to and see me. Hold out your hand, and concentrate on making my hand solid. Imagine being able to hold my hand. It will take a lot of effort, so do not be discouraged if it does not work immediately.”  
  
Nikolai held out his hand and closed his eyes. He concentrated, imagining feeling Pietro’s hand in his own. It felt like hours, but he felt another hand settle into his palm and squeeze it. Nikolai opened his eyes in surprise, and Pietro’s hand fell through his own. Nikolai frowned.  
  
“Do not give up, little one. You did it! You just have to work on it. Do you want to try again?” Nikolai nodded and held out his hand, concentrating once more.  
  
It took a few more tries, but eventually Nikolai was able to touch Pietro with relative ease.


	4. The Field Trip (Disaster)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter’s class takes a trip to Stark Industries

The first month passed quickly. Pietro and Nikolai had moved from touching to making Pietro visible to others through touch, and Peter was teaching Nikolai about his powers and how to control them. Their training was held off by Nikolai’s health, which was subpar, to say the least, as well as a broken arm.

When Thor and Loki had come to visit from Asgard the second week Nikolai was at the Tower, the two gods had taken to Nikolai instantly. Unfortunately, Thor wasn’t a very gentle person, and had accidentally knocked Nikolai into a steel support beam, breaking his arm in two places. Thor had been so devastated the lights kept flickering, and couldn't be consoled, until Nikolai sheepishly held up a black sharpie and his arm, clad in a red cast, and asked the god to sign his cast.  
Today Nikolai was with Harley in his shared lab with Peter on the 86th floor. The boy liked to spend time in the lab, if only to spend time with Peter and Harley. He sat at a table drawing as Harley worked on one of Peter’s web shooters. When Nikolai was finished drawing, he closed his eyes and held his hand over top of the drawing. After a second, he giggled loudly, grabbing Harley’s attention. “Whatcha got there buddy?” Nikolai glanced up at Harley as he approached, then pointed to his drawing. The drawing was of Spider-man swinging from building to building, and, as Harley watched, the drawing moved, showing Spider-man swinging in the side of a building and scurrying up the wall.

Harley grinned and looked at Nikolai. “That’s really cool. Peter’s gonna like that.” Nikolai beamed at Harley, then looked up at the door. A second later, Peter burst in, stomping towards the pair. ““Oh come on! Of course, my school is the top scoring for technology tests, and of course, the reward is a field trip to Stark Industries and of course, I’m in the top twenty scorers so I have to go! Of course!” Harley grinned, watching his boyfriend pout. “Seriously? Why is this my life?” As Peter ranted, Nikolai slipped off his chair and held the paper out to Peter. Peter stopped mid sentence to examine the drawing, breaking out into a large grin as his watched the animation. “Is that for me?” At Nikolai’s shy nod, Peter laughed in delight. “I love it! Thank you, Niky.” Nikolai smiled and hugged Peter’s waist, which was as high as he could reach. Peter smiled and hugged the boy back, briefly forgetting his exasperation at Tony.

* * *

Peter’s exasperation returned full force the next morning. On top of a field trip to his home, he had a sensory overload, so everything was turned up to eleven. Peter had gotten used to it enough that he just popped in his custom Stark buds that dulled the sounds, put in the ‘contacts’ that would dim the brightness of everything, and the strip over his nose that would make the smells around him less noticeable, then headed out to the kitchen to grab breakfast before he left. Peter was surprised to see Nikolai sitting next to Clint at the island when he entered the kitchen. Natasha, Steve, and Bucky were usually awake by the time Peter left, but this was the first time he had seen the boy awake this early in the morning. His head was down on the table, and his hands were clasped firmly over his ears. Clint looked up as Peter approached, and gestured to his own ears.

Peter whispered softly, “Sensory?” Clint nodded slightly, and Peter grimaced. He looked at Nikolai’s form in sympathy, and grabbed an apple. He popped into Tony’s lab on his way down to the lobby. Tony looked up as Peter entered. “You too, kid? Clint’s already told me, I’m working on the stuff for Niky, now.” Peter nodded and headed back to the elevator, then out to the parking lot. Tony had installed Karen in one of his many cars so it was self-driving, giving it to Peter so Happy didn’t have to act as his chauffeur. Peter slipped into the driver’s seat and ate his apple as the car drove to school.

He turned his signed permission slip in as he passed Mr. Harrington’s desk on his way to his seat. “Alright, settle down! We’re about to board the buses to head to Stark Industries. Please be on your best behavior, and do not touch anything unless you are permitted.” With that, the class headed out to the buses to head to SI. Peter sat in the back, completely ignoring Flash’s taunts in favor of closing his eyes. The 45 minute ride seemed to pass in 10, because Ned was suddenly shaking him. “We’re here, come on.”

As Mr. Harrington led the class into the lobby, he caught Peter’s arm. “Peter, you don’t need to be listening to music while we’re here, please take out your earbuds.” Peter knew better than to argue, so he took out his earbuds with a sigh, clenching his fists as everything suddenly got unbearably loud.  
Peter winced and groaned quietly as he heard two sets of familiar footsteps. Harley grinned at Peter as he approached the reception desk, standing next to Mr. Harrington. Pepper made her way to Peter, speaking softly as she reached him. “Why aren’t you wearing your earbuds?” Peter could only gesture to Mr. Harrington, but Pepper seemed to understand. She went over to his teacher, and Peter could hear Pepper speaking to Mr. Harrington. When Pepper returned to Peter, she held her hand out. Peter placed the earbuds in her hand, and smiled gratefully as the woman secured the earbuds in his ears. “Thanks, Pep.” Pepper smiled and squeezed his hand, then left to presumably head to a meeting.

Flash looked like he wanted to make a comment on the interaction, but Harley and Mr. Harrington stepped towards the class. “Hey guys! My name’s Harley, and I’ll be your tour guide today. Before we begin, there are a few rules we need to go over, so listen up. Firstly, be aware that you had to sign NDAs before arriving here. In those NDAs, you were informed that you will see confidential projects while on tour. At any time while you are on the premises, you do not have any photography or video rights. If you are caught taking photos or video while on the premises, your device will be confiscated, you will be escorted off the premises by security, and you are subject to legal action if any photos are leaked. Just remember that this information should not be news to you, as you should’ve read the NDA when you signed it. Secondly, while this is a tour, it is also a workplace. Please do not touch or disturb anything or anyone while you are on tour. Treat everyone you meet with respect, including and especially the Avengers.”

“Finally, you will get badges that you can use today on the tour. These badges help our team keep track of everyone in the building at all times, so please always keep your badges visible on your person. Today, your badge is only activated to grant you access to any doors I scan into first, so don’t try to sneak off. If you attempt to scan your badge to a door that I have not scanned my own badge for, a loud alarm will sound, and you will be escorted from the premises. You can keep these visitor badges after the tour, they will be deactivated until a time you were to return to Stark Industries for any reason.” Harley grinned. “Okay, I’ve got your badges here. So when I call your name, come up to get it.”

Harley began calling out names, and Peter’s classmates went up one by one to retrieve their white badges. MJ, Ned, and Peter each pulled out their own badges. Because MJ and Ned came over to the tower so often, Tony had given them their own Omega 3 badges. Harley lead the class over to the scanners, where Happy waited. “Now, you will step through the scanners and FRIDAY, the building’s AI, will call out your name, badge level, and job, in your case it will be tour group. Before you pass through the scanner, please remove all keys, cell phones, watches, and any other metal from your person and place them here.” Harley indicated the bins to the side of each scanner. “Are there any questions?” One of Peter’s classmates, Cindy Moon, raised a hand. “You said the AI will call out our badge level, what are the other levels?”

Harley nodded in appreciation. “That has to be our most asked question. There are three tiers, Omega, Beta, and Alpha. The Omega badges, which are white, are the lowest badges, with level one being given to visitors and tour groups, such as yourselves, level two being given to press, which can access the conference rooms and have photography rights, and level three given to the family and friends of employees, which can only access the rooms their employee can enter, save classified rooms. The next level up are the Beta badges, silver, which range from level one to level eight, and are given to interns and most employees. The highest rank badge is the Alpha badges, colored gold, with two levels, given to select few employees, such as Mr. Hogan here, who is head of security, the Avengers, and residents of the tower.” Harley held up his own gold badge for everyone to see. “Usually tour guides have somewhere between Beta 4 to Beta 7, but I also happen to live here with the Avengers, which is why I have an Alpha 2 badge. Any others?”

Nobody said anything, so Harley nodded, then gave Happy a grin as he put his phone, watch, and his ring in a bin and stepped through. “Harley Keener, Alpha 2. Tour guide and resident. Welcome home, Harley.” As Harley retrieved his items, the class stepped through the scanners. Peter’s classmates looked surprised, to say the least, when MJ and Ned stepped through and FRIDAY called out, “Omega 3. Friend of employee. Welcome back,” for both. Unfortunately, Peter was last in line, so the entire class heard as he stepped through, “Peter Parker, Alpha 2. Intern and resident. Welcome home, Peter.” As Peter grabbed his things from the bin, he shrugged to the class. “I did say I had an internship here.”

Harley cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of the class once more. “Alright, if you’ll follow me to the elevator, we can get this party started!” The class shuffled towards the elevator, which was more than big enough, since it was designed to accommodate large lab equipment. Harley swiped his badge and called out. “Floor 2, please. We’re heading to the Avengers museum. You’ll have 20 minutes to look around before we move on.” The elevator doors slid open, and the class spread out, heading for the displays of their favorite heroes. Peter made to follow Harley, but Ned called him over from where he stood in front of a display case. “They’ve got one for Spider-man!” In the case was the first suit he ever wore, the one he made himself, along with replica web shooters, a replica of the first suit Tony made for him, and a few blurbs about him. One included trivia about Spider-man, such as that he was actually afraid of spiders, had developed claustrophobia from a building falling on him, and that he was a Mets fan.

Peter grinned as his eyes roamed over the display. He stayed at the Spider-man display for a few more minutes, then wandered around, looking at the other displays. The 20 minutes passed without problem, and Peter zoned out as Harley spouted the usual tour guide spiel as the elevator sped up to the 70th floor. “We are now heading to one of the many research labs in Stark Industries. This particular lab is used only by interns. We will be meeting up with Gina, one of the college interns in the lab.” The elevator doors opened, and Harley lead the class to one of the doors. He swiped his badge first, and after FRIDAY called out his name, the class swiped their own badges then entered the lab. Gina was waiting for them, greeting them with an easy smile. “Hey Harley, hey guys. So, this is one of the many research and development labs here at Stark Industries. This entire floor of labs is made up of only interns, as I’m sure Harley already told you. Take some time and look around, but don’t touch anything. You can stop and ask us questions you might have on what we’re working on, just make sure you listen for when Harley says you have to move on.”

The class dispersed to wander among the lab tables and interns. Peter mostly stayed with Harley, but stopped at a computer where Jason, an intern he had worked with before, sat staring at a screen of code. “Pete, help.” He groaned in frustration, and Peter chuckled, examining the code.  “What’s it supposed to do?” Jason gestured to a tiny circular robot next to him on the table. “It’s the code for this little guy, but I can’t figure out where it’s gone wrong. He won’t wake up.” Peter patted Jason on the shoulder, then pulled up a chair to look closer at the code. Peter nodded, pointing to a line. “There it is, just the wrong slash.” Peter replaced the offending slash, and watched as Jason tried to activate the robot. He grinned when the robot lit up in red. “Thanks Peter! I’ve got to show this to my supervisor today.” Peter nodded and continued wandering around the lab. Another intern stopped him to ask for help with an equation, and Peter had helped them solve it, just before Harley called for the class to regroup. “Any questions for Gina before we head to dining for lunch?” Flash raised his hand, speaking before Gina could even call on him. “Are there only college interns?” Gina shook her head. “Nope. Most of us interns are college students, but we’ve had a few high schoolers in the past. In fact, one of our best researchers, Casey, started here as a high school intern.” “Do you have any high school interns now?” Gina frowned, then nodded. “Yep. Harley here is home schooled, but he would be a junior. There are a few others, too. In fact, Peter’s been here as an intern for about a year, now.” Flash gaped at her, then glowered as Harley ushered the group into the elevator.

As Harley corralled the students into the elevator and swiped his badge, he gave Peter a look. Peter motioned for him to drop it. Harley sighed and requested floor 86. “Since you guys have been respectful and polite for the majority of the tour,” Harley glowered slightly at Flash, “I have decided that, before we go to dining for lunch, I’m going to let you guys explore my personal lab. Well, the lab I share with Peter. Please, I cannot stress enough, do not touch anything without our permission, as many of our projects are still experimental.” The doors opened to the large lab, and Harley let the students stream out of the elevator into the lab. They stopped dead in their tracks and stared. Harley and Peter traded looks, then pushed their way to the front. Sitting at an empty table was Nikolai, chattering softly to an automaton as he drew. Peter realized, very quickly, that the automaton was being animated by the young boy, as its eyes were dark. Then, Nikolai set down his tool and held his hand over the paper. Before their eyes, the drawing came off the paper. It was a small black dragon that blew dark red fire. The dragon flew around Nikolai’s head, making the boy giggle, then settled in the nest of dark red curls on his head. Peter cleared his throat lightly, and Nikolai looked over.

“Oh, hello. Sorry, Petey. Daddy said I could stay in here while I drew since Uncle Tony and Uncle Bruce are playing together.” As if on cue, a small explosion sounded from above. Peter smiled, “It’s fine Niky. Of course you can hang out in here, as long as you remember the rules.” Nikolai nodded and recited dutifully. “Don’ touch anything without you an’ Harley saying I can, ‘cause it’s dangerous and someone could get hurt. An’ also ‘cause Aunt Pepper will cry if we have another explode-y inventor in the Tower.” Peter laughed as the boy’s statement was interrupted by yet another explosion.

Harley grinned, “That’s right. Now, students, if Nikolai here can understand and follow these rules, I trust you can as well. Now, go on, we’ve got about half an hour.” The group scattered, browsing the visible blueprints and projects on the various lab tables. A few looked over in Nikolai’s direction curiously, the boy giggling as a purple dragon came to life and chased the black dragon around his head, but kept clear of him. It hadn’t been that long since the press conference announcing that the boy was living with the Avengers, and any person with at least a single brain cell could piece together why a young child was living with the superheroes, especially with the way Clint and Natasha had stood on either side of him protectively. Peter, seeing no need to look at his own projects, sat with Nikolai. “Did Uncle Tony give you your stuff?” Nikolai nodded happily and dug a pair of glasses out of his pocket. “It’s not that bright now, so I took ‘em off. Daddy said that was okay, as long as I put ‘em back on when it started to hurt again. And,” he grinned as he tapped his ear twice. A sleek black device materialized. “He gave me these, too!” Peter realized what they were after a second. “Hearing aids? Are you deaf, Niky?”

Nikolai nodded, then paused. “Mostly anyways. Uncle Bruce says 95% deaf in both ears, ‘cause otherwise my hearing wouldn’t be ‘ffected by the overload. He’s says it’s probably from the accident.” Peter nodded, thinking that made sense. “Uncle Tony made them out of this special stuff...vi...vi...” Nikolai frowned, and Peter took a guess “Vibranium?” Nikolai nodded. “Yep! They won’t hurt my ears when I wear them. And, when it gets too loud, they ‘matically make it quieter.  _And_  they’re like headphones. I can listen to music, or connect to the TV, so nobody else can hear. And Uncle Tony made ‘em so that they can disappear if I want them to. They’re so cool!” Peter grinned and nodded, watching the boy draw a third dragon to join the pair above his head. This one was red and had a blue circle in its chest. With a start, Peter looked at the two dragons on Nikolai’s head. “Niko, are you drawing the family as dragons?” Niko glanced up at him, then nodded with a bright grin. He looked around, then pulled a paper out from under his current one, and showed it to Peter.

It was a red dragon with a blue underbelly, and had thin black lines on its body. “Is that...me?” Peter asked lowly, and he wasn’t ashamed to admit he could feel the tears when Nikolai gave him a bright smile. “I drew that one first. But I know it’s secret.” Peter smiled, and hesitantly put an arm around Nikolai’s shoulders. The boy leaned into it, wrapping his arms around Peter’s waist in a hug. “Thank you, bud. You can animate him, just don’t tell anyone it’s me, okay?” Nikolai’s smile grew bigger as Peter slid over the drawing, watching as Nikolai held out a hand, palm down, and his other palm up. The dragon melted off the paper and climbed into Nikolai’s hand. The dragon gave a puff of white smoke, making Nikolai giggle as it tickled his palm. He gave the dragon a soft nudge, and it flew up into the air. “So...do they have names?” Nikolai gave Peter one of Natasha’s patented looks, the one that said _Of course, do you take me for a fool?_  Peter chuckled, but held up his hands in surrender. Nikolai glanced to the dragons, and the black dragon flew down to sit on the desk, preening under Nikolai’s gentle finger. “This is Blackie,” “Your mom.” Nikolai nodded and called down the purple dragon silently. Next to Blackie, the new one was slightly larger, but just as lean and muscular. “Archer.” Peter chuckled, “Your dad.” The dragon version of Peter flew down to nudge Peter’s hand. He obliged, rubbing the smaller snout lightly. Nikolai looked at the dragon for a few seconds, before a grin blossomed on his face. “Spinner.” Peter smiled, and Nikolai continued to color the Iron Man dragon. When he brought it to life, he watched the dragon snort golden fire. “Spark.” Another explosion sounded, startling the students, and Peter nodded approvingly. Nikolai continued to draw the family as dragons, producing well drawn animations with amazing speed. Thor’s yellow dragon, Thunder, played with Bruce’s green dragon, Doc Green. Steve’s red and blue dragon, Spangle, snapped playfully at the black dragon with a silvery wing and a red star named Starry. By the time the group had to head to dining for lunch, Nikolai’s final dragon, a light blue and silver dragon named Speedy, was just coming to life.

”Alright guys, we’re going to head down to floor 10 for lunch. We will have about half an hour to an hour to eat and relax, then we’ll see about heading up to some of the Avengers only floors. Maybe we’ll even get to meet some.” The students chattered excitedly as they piled back into the elevator. Nikolai tugged on Peter’s hand before he could say goodbye. “Can I come with you?” Peter looked over at Harley, who shrugged, and looked back to Nikolai. “Why don’t you ask your dad first? If he says you can, you can come on down with us, alright?” Nikolai nodded. “FRIDAY, can you connect Daddy to my aids?” “He is connected.” “Thanks! Daddy?” Peter could dimly hear Clint through Nikolai’s hearing aids. “Can I eat lunch with Peter and Harley in the dining area?...Thanks, Daddy!” Nikolai turned to Peter and grinned, and Peter held out his hand. Nikolai took it, then looked back at his dragons. “Why don’t you bring two, and the others can go up to the common area and play?” Nikolai chewed his bottom lip, then nodded. Blackie and Speedy flew up to nest in Nikolai’s hair. Before Peter could blink, the entire pack of dragons were nestled among Peter and Nikolai’s hair and shoulders. Nikolai looked up to Peter with sorry eyes. “They don’t want to be alone. ‘M sorry. I can go eat lunch with Daddy upstairs.” Peter shook his head, guiding the boy to the elevator. “It’s alright, just make sure they don’t bother anyone, alright?” Nikolai nodded happily, and watched as a few dragons detached themselves from Peter and Nikolai to nestle in Harley’s hair and sit on his shoulders. The students seemed to shrink against the back wall of the elevator, looking frightfully at the dragons. Nikolai just pet Archer, who perched on his shoulder.

Lunch wasn’t very spectacular until about halfway through the hour they had. Nikolai kept the dragons corralled around the three residents, which Peter and Harley didn’t mind, and fed them pieces of French fries from his plate. Thankfully, in Peter’s opinion, the dragons kept the rest of the students, save Ned and MJ (who were around the Tower enough to be used to the boy’s animations), on the other end of the long table. Halfway through lunch, Blackie and Archer both sped off towards the elevator doors, despite Nikolai’s protest. When Nikolai turned, ready to jump up and retrieve his pets, he let out a happy shriek that had Peter covering his ears and ran towards the elevator. Peter, along with probably the entire dining area, turned to watch as Nikolai all but flew into the arms of the Black Widow herself, laughing delightedly. Natasha had a few bruises and cuts visible on her face and neck, but otherwise had no sign that she’d just returned from a week long mission. She had changed out of her suit and into jeans and a t-shirt, and as she headed back towards Peter and Harley, the younger spider could spot the corner of her mouth curling into a smile as she took in the dragons. She dropped into Nikolai’s empty seat, petting Starry’s snout as he butted his head under her hand. MJ, who now sat next to Natasha, nearly dropped her book as she looked at the Widow. Peter traded a knowing smirk with Ned. The two knew that MJ admired (and crushed on, Ned theorized) the Black Widow greatly. Despite having been to the tower many times, MJ never seemed to get used to the assassin being near her, let alone greeting her easily.

Natasha carded her hands through Nikolai’s hair as he told her about his week, frowning as her hands caught on the hearing aids. Nikolai stopped talking, presumably feeling his mother’s hands feeling the hearing aids. He murmured something in Russian, turning in Natasha’s lap to peer up at her. Natasha smiled softly, leaning in to press a kiss just above Nikolai’s ear. She whispered in his ear, and Nikolai smiled up at her. “Blackie!” Nikolai laughed as the dragon flew up to press her snout against Natasha’s cheek. Natasha’s mouth curved upwards softly, holding out her palm so her dragon counterpart could land on it. Natasha brought Blackie close to her face to examine the dragon, looking impressively at her son. “Nice details. Got some dragons to join the wolves now, do we?” Nikolai shrugged, a smile playing on his lips. The wolves Natasha were referring to were three wolves, black, white, and spotted, Nikolai had drawn two weeks prior. They lived in the living room of the Barton-Romanov suite, but liked to follow Nikolai into the common area, curling up with him during movie night.

”Yeah, ‘cept this time it’s everyone.” Natasha chuckled softly, “I see. They got names?” Nikolai happily pointed out each dragon and gave their names, gently guiding Spark away from the edge of the table. A loud banging above them caught Nikolai’s attention, and he giggled as Clint jumped out of the vents. He tossed a container filled with cookies on the table in front of Peter and wrapped his arms around Natasha’s shoulders, kissing her head. Natasha swatted lightly at Clint’s arms, but Peter could see the smile clear on her face as she tilted her head upwards. Her smile grew into a soft laugh as Archer flew at Clint’s face. “Tasha!”

Clint hugged Natasha from behind, lightly swatting as Archer kept running into his face. Nikolai giggled, calling Archer back to him. Clint, from behind Natasha, surveyed the dragons. “Where’s your dragon, buddy?” Nikolai shrugged, focusing his eyes on the scarlet dragon playfully snapping at his fingers. “Didn’t make one.” Nikolai yawned widely, and Natasha smiled softly before kissing the top of his head and lifting him up for Clint to take him. “Let’s get you settled in for a nap, hmm? See you later, Peter.” Peter waved as Natasha stood, taking Nikolai in her arms once more, and followed Clint out of the dining area. The dragons flew after their creator, zipping into the closing elevator doors.

Peter knew the class was staring at him, once again, but ignored them. Eventually, Harley stood and cleared his plate off, then turned to the table. “Alright guys, clean off your plates. We’ll be heading up to a conference room to have a meet and greet with the Avengers.” The group cleared off their plates in record time, and gathered in the elevator. Harley called out floor 84 and let the students chatter quietly as the elevator sped up to the floor. When they stepped into the floor and entered a conference room, the group all quieted as they looked at the Avengers. They shuffled into seats quickly, wanting to hear the superheroes speak.

“Hello, Midtown High. We decided to give you guys some time to speak with us, ask us questions. So, ask away!” Peter didn’t really listen, entertaining himself with focusing on sounds far below him as his classmates asked the team questions. Just as Tony declared it was time for the students to get pictures with their favorite Avengers, Peter heard loud shouting below. He quickly looked up to Steve, who had obviously heard it as well. A second later, loud gunshots sounded throughout the building, and the Avengers went into fight mode. Harley called out, “Please follow me. Stay quiet, and stay together. Quickly now!”

Natasha and Bucky went with the group into the elevator and up to the 85th floor, where Bruce almost ran into them. As Harley lead them into one of the built in panic rooms, Peter grabbed a comm from one of Bruce’s tables. Bucky and Bruce headed back down to join the Avengers, and Natasha went up to the penthouse to retrieve Nikolai. Peter, thankful for the quiet, focused his hearing and took a deep breath as he removed his earbuds. He relayed information to Harley, after inserting the comm and letting the team know he was connected. He faltered when he heard someone yelling, “Get the kid!” Followed by what could’ve only been Nikolai’s screams as Natasha fought off the intruders. Peter’s hand gripped Harley’s tightly as he heard Natasha fall to the floor with a grunt, and Nikolai scream even louder. The sound of flames told Peter that the dragons were protecting Nikolai, but with whimpers, each one fell. Nikolai’s screams suddenly stopped, and Peter winced as he heard a blow landing. He turned to Harley with wide eyes as he heard the intruders retreat through windows and the lobby doors. He whispered shakily, pressing a hand to his comm. “They’ve got Nikolai.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s funny because I’m writing this story which is Clintasha’s son being a young child, but I have my own personal story where he’s Peter’s age and is dating Peter and is a superhero. Sometimes I mix the two up and I’m like, “oh that’d be a cool idea,” and then I start writing a new chapter for this story before I realize it’s about teenage Nikolai lol


	5. UPDATE

So, I have to rewrite chapter 5. I don’t know how/why I lost it, but I did. While I was looking for it, I reread the story so far and I don’t really like a lot of parts. I’m not going to delete the story, because I do like the idea, but I think I’m going to rewrite it. Just wanted to let everyone know.


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